A picture of the VSBC from the

2014 E.C Griffith Cup

photo curtesy of the Mia Mia CFA

Power
Boat Racing

The EC Griffith Cup gets its name
from the trophy’s donor, Earnest Charles Griffith, who, in 1910,
presented a magnificent hand-beaten solid silver trophy for the
Australasian Championship. The first race for the Cup was held over a
course at Manly, NSW, and was won by Anthony Horden in Kangaroo, a
single-step hydroplane with a top speed of 48km/h.

Racing
for the EC Griffith Cup is dictated by a Deed of Gift; a set of rules
put in place by the donor and subsequently modified over the years with
the permission of the Griffith family to allow for the Australasian
Motor Boat Championship, open to the inboard engine propeller driven
boats of unrestricted hull design and unlimited engine
capacity/modifications. It is conducted under the jurisdiction of the
Australian Power Boat Association and is annually conducted on the
waters of last year's winner.

Today, the Cup has
become the Australasian Powerboat Championship, open to boats from both
sides of the Tasman. Boats can be of any design, so long as they are
inboard and powered by a single automotive engine. There are no
restrictions on the modifications allowed to the engine.

It has been said that
the EC Griffith Cup is the world’s second oldest motor sport trophy
still being contested. Two World Wars and drought have seen the Cup
cancelled from time to time.

In the history of the
Cup, only three Kiwis have been victorious in Australia – Len
Southward, Peter Knight and Warwick Lupton. Similarly, only four
Australians have won the Cup in New Zealand 2 of 4 times whereVSBC members– Ernie Nunn, Dennis
Parker, Greg Holland and Grant Harrison.

The golden years of the
Cup may well have been the 1970s, when the aero-engined V12 Rolls Royce
Merlin-powered ‘thunderboats’ challenged their auto-engined rivals.
When these enormously powerful boats were on song, they were too big,
too powerful and too fast for their auto-engined counterparts. But the
era of the thunderboats was out lived and the fleet only ever amounted
to a handful of boats.

Ultimately, the era of
the thunderboat
lasted until BAD's, KT's & GP's slowly took over &
the thunder boat class slowly died out. Auto-engined boats
ruled the sport & once more the high-powered domain of
turbocharged or supercharged big-block engines in displacement or
hydroplane hulls grow's stronger.

The VSBC is proud to have the Cup back at Lake Eppalock after a 19 year stint away from it's banks due to low water levels & other winning competing clubs. Ron Burton a 13 time E.C Griffith Cup Champion owner will be trying his best to defend the cup previously won by 24 VSBC members. The VSBC has hosted the running of this prestigious event, so hoisting this event will be something to remember